These are things I make instead of songs... and sometimes these make songs. To download, right-click on the title and follow your computer's instructions. Some of them will probably become Songs.
I worked for about two, three minutes to find that D#7 chord. Might be worth revisiting.
"I've got a mind to make some mayhem."
My hands landed on these chords without premeditation. I'll be using these somewhere soon.
This is one of the greatest songs ever written, and one of the most peculiar patterns.
So many glitches on this, but I'm pretty sure it's going to go somewhere.
Birds are strange.
Testing the system.
Patterns and echos...
Minor makes me happy. In a melancholy way.
Made me wish I'd plugged into the Ditto.
I've always liked to play with ringing open strings.
Maybe this'll do something, if I let it cook for a while.
One of these days, I'm going to figure out where I'm going.
Short and stompy.
Well, it starts off quieter than Louder does. And there are a few moments that are genuinely quieter. So don't complain.
Stereo amplification and an echo pedal. Might as well face thefacts: I'm never going to get tired of making this kind of noise.
Six weeks later, he returns to find that the lovely guitar he'd been eyeing was a lovely guitar, but ultimately not what he wanted.
Plug in and go. Around. Figure it out.
Zipping around the fretboard like he knew what he was doing, our plucky musician shows how any guitar can be ruined.
Amaj7, E, f#, g#, A. Improvised lyrics.
a add4 (X00555). A Bruce Cockburn song came to mind (Nanzen Ji) that's about a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto. Lots of poetic license here. The motif is that a add4 chord and its consequences.
A lot of riffs based on F something. I lost control at some point and let my hands run around as they wanted.
D (really Asus4: X00230), A7sus4, A7, C, slide up to D, G, F, e, then something I don't remember for the changeup but it sounded too much like Led Zeppelin so I ran away from it… b7, c#7, Dmaj7? Maybe A, G, F, e after that.
A# F G D A (all barre), then d7, e7, Cmaj7 (X35453)… later, that same progression ends on Fmaj7. Middle thing is c, B, A
The small Seagull decided it liked gravity better than the pedalboard case it was leaning against.
G with B, A, C, B, G, then C7+G, then a7, C, G, a7, D7+G, D7. Apparently I went with country for this one, but I couldn't keep the momentum and switched away pretty quickly.
I have no idea. I've been thinking about jazz and country a lot, and watched a lot of horror movie previews before recording this, so my head was in a lot of places. Kind of like a room full of mirrors that point away from each other. Also, in theoretical physics, a quantum state with zero spin. And out of tune by the end on several strings.
Buyer beware: this one (like everything on this site) is free. Also, it's a little over 31 minutes, so put it on and get to your knitting or something. Multitasking is key.
This riff came up during a Tall People rehearsal, and I decided to play with it until I broke it. This is about as Zappa-esque as I get, it seems. Hooray for the UniVibe!
Man, I love the sound of Tele pickups. Juicy.
I bought this new Wiggler pedal to make all sorts of wobbly noises...
Nothing beats a Wah pedal. Except a better Wah pedal. Working on it...
So all this time I'm recording these, I'm texting a friend. I guess it colored my playing somehow.
Another new pedal, already retired: The BBE Two Timer. I like my Space Echo ever so much better.
I guess I was trying to make a statement of a melody line or something. Or trying to pull something out of my head and through my fingers into the guitar and out the amp. And then I lost the thread.
Some days, I really wish I was Jeff Beck. Other days, I know better.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with someone who likes to listen to bass solos. Unless you're listening to this one. It's basically (ha!) me trying to remember where the fingers go and how the strings react to my various proddings and fondlings. Stupid note: I broke one of my glow-in-the-dark picks on the bass not long after recording this bit.
I sat in one of those humidors in the back of Guitar Center (not my favorite guitar shop) and pulled a semi-cheap classical off the wall and played around for a while.
I just plugged in my new MXR Custom Badass ’78 Distortion pedal... this is the result. It's kinda quiet, because I stupidly recorded at Low. Sorry, gang.
Free of that demon ibuprofen
03.15.11 Cabin No. 9 Sessions 2... more from Hanging Rock. This time on acoustic. A chilly morning with nothing but bare trees and bagpipe-playing neighbors.
03.14.11 Cabin No. 9 Sessions 1... Hanging Rock, NC: A perfect place to unplug everything else except my guitar.
Something to keep my fingers busy after a Pickin' and Grinnin' night at Todd's house. Jamming with Carl is inspiring stuff.
Sometimes, I improvise. This was a last-ditch attempt to salvage a rehearsal. It almost worked. I might have to update it sometime.
A lengthy jam in the key of F# minor 7. I'm using the Telecaster (The Brian May has a broken G string) with the Foxx Phaser and the Boss RC2 Loop Station pedal... a great way to avoid needing to put a rhythm guitarist to sleep. Unfortunately, it doesn't crescendo or lay back, but it works for now.
15 minutes of the Brian May guitar with the Foxx Phaser and the Boss RC2 Loop Station. Kind of an inverted blues.